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Records indicate Struthers cops violated suicide watch policy before hanging
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By Sarah Lehr
STRUTHERS
An inmate found dead in the Struthers city jail early Sept. 10 was not placed under suicide watch or referred to a mental-health professional – despite initialing a form that indicated his suicidal intent.
Capt. Patrick Bundy found Peter Bugno, 43, hanging in his cell about four hours after Bugno was booked into jail.
Under Ohio law and Struthers Police Department policy, a screening officer is required to complete a questionnaire before admitting any inmate. The questionnaire includes an assessment for suicide risk.
Bundy told The Vindicator in September that Bugno had shown no suicidal tendencies during his time at the jail.
On Dec. 29, The Vindicator sought records in the Bugno case. The city provided records last week.
Included in the city’s response was a screening form for Bugno, initialed by Bugno and by a screening officer with the initials “MAL,” that includes the question: “Do you have any intention of harming yourself or of committing suicide?”
“Yes” was checked in response to that question.
If an inmate shows suicidal tendencies after being booked into jail, police are required to either bring a mental-health specialist to the jail to evaluate the inmate or to transport the inmate to a hospital for evaluation.
Until the evaluation can occur, the inmate must be placed under additional monitoring, also referred to as “suicide watch,” involving increased surveillance with checks at least every 20 minutes.
Bugno, however, was not put on suicide watch. Records reveal jail officials failed to follow standard policy for monitoring inmates in general.
Under ordinary circumstances, the jail officer is required to conduct “direct in-person surveillance” of all inmates at irregular intervals at least once every hour.
Struthers jail logs, initialed by Bundy on Sept. 10, indicate the checks did not occur at least once every hour.
Bugno had been arrested on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct while intoxicated and, according to a booking card, he was jailed about 4:40 a.m.
The log details two checks – one about 6:30 a.m. and another about 8:40 a.m..
It was at the second check, when Bundy brought inmates breakfast, that he found Bugno dead and hanging by a sheet tied to a vent.
Mahoning County Coroner’s office records also indicate inmate checks did not occur with the required frequency. Bundy told coroner’s investigators that he checked jail cells about 6 a.m., but he could not see into Bugno’s cell from where he was standing at the time of the check, according to a report.
The Struthers police manual stipulates that “direct in-person surveillance” involves viewing each prisoner directly through the cell door.
In response to questions from the newspaper in the days after Bugno’s death, officials said proper protocol had been followed in the hours preceding the hanging.
Bundy, who was acting police chief at the time because Chief Tim Roddy was on vacation, called the Mahoning County Coroner’s office about 10 minutes after he found Bugno dead, according to a report.
Agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Struthers Detective Jeff Lewis also responded to the jail.
A coroner listed Bugno’s cause of death as hanging and found alcohol and cocaine in his system.
Relatives of Bugno’s told coroner’s investigators that Bugno had a history of substance abuse, depression and threatening suicide, according to a report. Youngstown police cited Bugno in February 2015 for driving under the influence.
Before Bugno’s death, the last suicide in the city jail occurred in 2006, according to Vindicator files.
The Mahoning County jail saw two suicides last year – one Oct. 4 and another Aug. 25 – which were the first suicides in the county jail in 12 years.
Two Mahoning County deputies were disciplined in September with unpaid suspensions for leaving their posts at the time of the August incident.
Roddy declined to comment on whether any Struthers police officers faced disciplinary action after Bugno’s death, having been instructed by Mayor Terry Stocker not to comment or answer questions.
Calls to the mayor’s cellphone were not returned Friday.
After Bugno’s death, Struthers hired Cleveland-based lawyer John Travis to represent the city.
Travis declined to answer questions, referring to a news release issued by Stocker on Friday afternoon.
The news release states the city “is in the process of thoroughly reviewing the situation and investigating the events of that evening to determine whether or not there was any breakdown in protocol or procedures on the part of its personnel. In the event that it is determined that discipline is appropriate due to any actions or inaction on the part of its personnel, it will be forthcoming.”
The release also said: “ ... [P]lease keep in mind that investigating and disciplining a police officer in the employment context is not a simple process. It is procedurally complex. Officers have rights under a collective-bargaining agreement and certain legal rights that are also implicated in this type of situation.”
Travis declined to comment on why the city did not ask an external agency to investigate policy compliance preceding the death.